Turning exercise into a lifestyle
We’ve all been through the process before. After weeks of dodging the gym, flaking on running dates with friends, or eating yet another slice of cake for dinner, we decide it’s time to make a change. We may start with eliminating things from our diet or making exercise a bigger part of our lives. The old gym gear gets dusted off and the morning alarm is set a few hours earlier. In that moment, we’re determined to turn our lives for good. And maybe we keep to our promise to go to gym and eat clean for a couple of days. But somehow, we slowly start to fall off with every small mistake. One cookie here. One cocktails there. A couple of takeout meals with no intention of going to the gym.
Before we know it, we find ourselves back to square one, wondering how to get ourselves back on track. The secret to making exercise a lifestyle choice doesn’t involve some magic or divine intervention. It takes much more than promising to punish yourself at the gym, or going on a restrictive, intense diet. It requires you to think more carefully about the decisions you’re making and work towards making changes to your life. These may feel difficult at first, but they can be built upon and turned into long-lasting habits.
Here are a few ways you can turn exercise into less of a chore and more of a lifestyle:
1) Find a time of the day where you can fit in an activity
Creating schedule is the first step you can take on your lifestyle overhaul. Set aside time to fit in an hour or two at the gym, or decide when to do meal-prep for the week. Remember that small steps are key to effective and lasting change. Even if you start with 20 minutes of cardio a day. You can always increase your workout or start over on a diet − so long as you’re sticking to your routine.
2) Exercise in a large group
Working out with friends or colleagues can get tricky since people have different schedules and obligations. You may have tried this before without much success because people either flaked, or you found it tough to take juggle everything and everyone at once. However, if you start with small activities, you’ll find it much easier to synchronise a schedule with friends or colleagues. Plus, it’ll make it harder for you to bail on workouts because you’ll be letting both yourself and other people down!
3) Motivate yourself by purchasing new workout gear
There’s no better pick-me-up than a bit of shopping and buying workout gear to kickstart your new lifestyle journey won’t leave you with any of the normal post-shopping guilt because it’s for your own benefit. So look for something which will make you feel great while working out and get you in the mood to exercise.
4) Concentrate on health, not a number
Many people have cited that they begin to see body results and gains once they stopped focusing on numbers, and concentrated on health. When you see exercise as a another way to maintain your health and fitness, it will feel less like a prison sentence, and more like an activity you do for your own benefit. It’s not a bad thing to have body goals, but remember this shouldn’t be your only motivation for getting fit.
5) Nutrition ALWAYS matters
As we’ve discussed before on this blog, you cannot make exercise part of your new lifestyle without paying attention to what you put into your body. So as you begin your fitness journey, remember that food is an important part of making these important lifestyle changes. Look up different diets, take note of foods which will aid your fitness goals, and always, always prioritise meal prep.